Piergiuseppe Perazzini and Gabriele Matteuzzi in the Megadrive-Racing Box Maserati  MC12 claimed a third and fourth place in the two Italian GT Championship races held at Magione on Sunday, keeping their championship aspirations alive. Meanwhile, in GT3 the Maserati Lights once again dominated proceedings.

ITALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP MOVES ON TO MAGIONE

The closing stages of the Sara Assicurazioni Italian Gran Turismo championship promises to be action packed. The third last race of the season was held at Magione on 24 July with the title challenge as wide open as ever. After their win in race two at Hungoraring, the Megadrive-Racing Box MC12, driven by Piergiuseppe Perazzini and Gabriele Matteuzzi, arrived at Magione only three points down on the overall leader.

This season the Maserati MC12 is making its debut in Italian Gran Turismo. As well as being very competitive, it has proved reliable and consistent. Meanwhile, the Trident GT has triumphed on all circuits (race 2 at Misano, race 2 at Vallelunga, race 1 at Monza, race 2 at Hungoraring), and has shown an unusual ability to adapt to any type of circuit.

QUALIFYING

It was a positive showing for the Megadrive - Racing Box Maserati MC12 in qualifying for the Sara Assicurazioni Italian Gran Turismo Championship. Behind the wheel was the crew of Gabriele Matteuzzi and Piergiuseppe Perazzini. Even though the Umbrian circuit is not particularly suited to the characteristics of the MC12, Gabriele Matteuzzi set the fourth fastest time of 1’10”851 in the first session at an average speed of 127.383 km/h. Matteuzzi ran 18 laps.

In the second session, Piergiuseppe Perazzini steered the Trident berlina to the third qualifying spot. He set a time of 1’11”068, at an average of 126.994 km/h. Perazzini also drove 18 laps of the track. The race promised to be a close one as the quickest cars were grouped within a few tenths of one another.

In the GT3 class of the Trofeo CSAI, pole position for race one went to Rui Aguas in the AF Corse Maserati Light (1’15”093, average 120.187 km/h). He headed Andrea Ceccato (Megadrive, same time) and Andrea Palma (AF Corse, 1’15”690). Pole position for race two went to the superb Arturo Merzario (1’15”574, at an average of 119.422 km/h). He shared the drive on this occasion with Andrea Ceccato. Second and third were taken by the two Lights fielded by AF Corse. Danilo Zampaloni (1’16”374) and Alessandro Frigerio (1’16”610), substituting his brother Luca here at Magione, were in the driving seat.

RACE 1

The efforts of Gabriele Matteuzzi and Piergiuseppe Perazzini at the wheel of the Megadrive Racing Box Maserati MC12 were rewarded with third place in race one. Matteuzzi lost a little ground at the start and lay in fifth by the end of the first lap. However, the Maserati driver had managed to steer clear of any potentially dangerous clashes early on. Things got a touch trickier for the MC12 over the next few laps as it slipped to sixth spot, six seconds down on the overall leader. Santaniello launched an attack on Matteuzzi on lap six and overtook him. In the GT3 class of the Trofeo CSAI, the Maserati Lights took immediate command with Rui Aguas leading from Andrea Ceccato and Andrea Palma.

Matteuzzi made the most of the duel between Chiesa and Santaniello on lap 18 to move up a place. The MC12 driver swept past Santaniello at the old pit lane curve. The situation in GT3 was unchanged. Piergiuseppe Perazzini climbed behind the wheel at the driver change. Once these changes had all been made, Perazzini occupied fourth place. Over in GT3, Alessandro Frigerio led from Arturo Merzario and Danilo Zampaloni. Mistakes made by drivers ahead of him allowed Perazzini to claim third place a little over twenty minutes from the end. In GT3 Merzario had got past Frigerio; Zampaloni still held third.

The MC12 finished a richly deserved third. This was just reward after a race in which the drivers had not committed any errors. The Merzario/Ceccato (Megadrive) crew took the win in the GT3 class. They were a lap ahead of the two AF Corse cars, driven by Aguas/Frigerio and di Palma/Zampaloni, at the finish. Rui Aguas had the satisfaction of setting the quickest lap in GT3 with a time of 1’15”466 at an average speed of 119.593 km/h.

Gabriele Matteuzzi: "Starting alongside the GT1s at Magione is always a delicate affair. Consequently, I tried not to get into any bother at the first two curves where there was some boxing going on.
 

"The positions stabilised but I had a little trouble with the front tyres that took a while to get up to race temperature. I tried not to take too many risks and let faster drivers past. In the end, third place is a very good result and one that I did not expect." Piergiuseppe Perazzini: "We struggled at the start and had to mount a comeback. I think it was difficult to have done any better."

RACE 2

Matteuzzi and Perazzini’s Maserati MC12 collected fourth place in race two at the Autodrome of Umbria. It is a result that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the Megadrive – Racing Box team as the car proved to be able to challenge for the win.

The green light was shown after the safety car had been on track for two laps. This unusual start was necessary as the circuit needed to be cleared of the filler left on the track surface by cars from the previous race. Perazzini maintained his third place when the race got underway and he tried to up the tempo to close the gap on Ramos.

The safety car was called for once more 39 minutes from the end to allow a car to be removed from the track. Many of the teams took the opportunity to make the driver change at this point. Perazzini came in just as the safety car was pulling into the pit lane and so had to limit his speed to 60km/h for the entire lap. Matteuzzi now found himself stuck behind Ceccato’s Light and lost even more time. Once he had finally got going, Matteuzzi stormed around the track and battled hard with Belicchi.

Belicchi, though, managed to win but only after having come close to clashing with the MC12. The pit stops over, the MC12 was in fourth position. The safety car came back again 23 minutes and 19 minutes from the end and the pack bunched together once more.

The overall race order did not change, however, and the MC12 crossed the finish line in fourth. The team can take some consolation from having set the fastest lap with Perazzini on lap 12 (1’11”112, at an average of 126.915 km/h). Perazzini and Matteuzzi hold onto their second place in the championship with 137 points. Ceccato/Merzario claimed their second win of the day in GT3. Aguas/Frigerio and Palma/Zampaloni (hit with a 2’ penalty by race commissioners) came home next. Palma/Zampolini head the overall standings on 149 points. Ceccato is in second with 144 and Aguas third on 120. The next Italian GT race will be held at Mugello on 18 September.

Piergiuseppe Perazzini: "The car drove very well and we resolved the problems with the set up. This was a race we could have won and we came fourth. A real shame." Gabriele Matteuzzi: "The car performed well and this was confirmed by the fastest lap. Unfortunately some racing incidents penalised us."